Sean Connolly's Blog

Ex Soldier and Author. I was just sixteen years old when I joined the Army and stayed for fifteen years - half my life was given to this band of brothers but in truth it was my whole life. British Army on the Rampage is a seies of autobiographical novels that tell it how it was - warts and all. I wasn't in the SAS, I don't think I killed many people and if I did it was an accident. These are just the stories of a hell of a good time with real friends and comrades and the life we llived, the pranks we got up to and the friendships formed. I make no apologies for the fact that these memoirs are humourous because all in all I had one hell of an outrageously good time. And if war is a serious business at least we had a lot of laughs on the way...

It is that time of year when our Nation remembers Our Dead and those of the Commonwealth and Empire who have died for the principals of freedom and democracy. There's the old saying "They Died That We Might Live". I think we not only have a duty to remember those that have gone but also to make the most of our own lives.

Yesterday I had a brilliant day - I went to St. George's Hall in Liverpool to see the poppy cascade bedecking the colomns of that imposing building surrounded in sandbags and have a wee think about friends lost and found from my army days - and then it was on to Bay TV to be interviewed by Gerry Smyth about my novels on army life.* I guess I now felt like a proper author. I suppose you could say that the army gave me more than just a career. So to all my military friends everywhere - here or once here, thanks for all your support.

Wow. The wheels of industry turn a
lot quicker than I first thought. The team at Armynovels.com have had a busy,
busy summer with not only a number of public appearances, book signings, air
and military shows, but also a number of army and R.A.F reunions too.

British Army on the Rampage and Surrogate
Fathers have been in demand in more far-off countries than I care to mention.
What has been surprising though is countries such as Afghanistan, Rhodesia and
Mauritius are now included into the Armynovels website top hits parade.

The marketing department has been
busy during the early part of the summer securing inclusions into national and
local magazines. That in itself would have been enough to excite me as an
author, but to be informed that B.F.B.S (British Forces Broadcasting Service)
will be carrying out an interview with me at The Royal British Legions Byng
House in Southport sent me to another level.

Publicity and marketing for the books
will receive another boost as Bay T.V are interviewing me in their new studios in Liverpool on Monday 9th November 2015 which broadcast on Thursday 12th November and will almost
certainly bring Liverpool to a standstill! I’ll let you know more details of the
broadcast over the next few days but obviously you will need to drop everything
and watch if only to see if their make-up department can make me look vaguely
human. I just can’t believe I’ll be on telly talking about my books - makes a
change from firing big guns or annoying people with Health and Safety checks…!

It only remains for me to say that none
of the above would be possible without the backing and support of all the
readers and the team at Armynovels who sort out the bag of words I present them
with to make it look something like a book.

Thank you all so much.

Sean Connolly

And now almost everything else is out
of the way (except Bonfire Night) now is the time to be starting to think about
those Christmas presents and what better gift than a beautiful paperback book
(preferably written by myself and available from www.armynovels.com)

NewsPosted by Sean Connolly Tue, July 14, 2015 13:35:54ARMY NOVELS IS HAVING ITS SUMMER SALE

Yes - when it's hot enought to fry an egg on the pavement or anywhere else for that matter then it is time to get your Summer reading packed for the holidays.

First choice obviously has to be my latest army book 'Surrogate Fathers' which has just been launched as a full length eBook at over 400 pages for just £2.99 Click HereORIf you are worried about getting suntan oil all over your kindle, Buy the paperback version and save £3.00 - from today until the end of the month it has been reduced from £7.99 to a mere £4.99 - which is a pretty hot! Click Here

Also from this Friday 17th July for one week only - all my other eBooks on Amazon are reduced to just 99p so there are massive savings to be made which is cool! That includes:Warning Order BelizeMuck 'n' BulletsWhite Knuckle Airways&Gunners 'n' Grenades - normally priced at £2.99

Also if you purchase the paperback version of British Army on the Rampage (B.A.O.R.) from the ArmyNovels website at a mere £7.99 - click here - then you will receive a free download copy of the audiobook - Warning Order Belize, read by the incredibly talented voice actor Jason Mills, and worth £7.99 - which is just sizzlingly hot as an offer. (Offer available for 1 week only from 17th July 2015).

So that's it - incredible deals and offers with even more reductions than the Government spending cuts!

Last weekend saw me signing books at Nostel Priory in Wakefield where I was raising some money for British Legion and Ben Parkinson MBE & Shaun Clark were raising money for PILGRIM BANDITS (www.pilgrimbandits.org) a charity to help and inspire wounded soldiers to live life to the full.

Ben Parkinson MBE

Ben is Britian’s most injured soldier. He was maimed 8 years ago in Afghanistan after being blown up when the Land Rover he was travelling in hit a landmine.

Ben now spends his days actively working on behalf of the soldiers' charity, Pilgrims Bandits. A service charity that helps other military personnel with similar injuries to his own to live full and adventurous lives.

Ben is not only an inspiration to us all but everyone else who has suffered war injuries. Ben Parkinson is truly a national hero. He’s seen here (above) swapping one of his t-shirts for a copy of Surrogate Fathers!

Shaun Clark is another one of the unsung heroes who works tirelessly for the Pilgrim Bandits. Shaun recently took up the charity challenge to have the name of every British service person who died in Afghanistan tattooed on his body. Yes you read it right. All 400 of them. He is without doubt another ex serviceman whose desire to help his comrades will reach no bounds. It was a great honour to meet these guys.In the mean time please remember that substantial proceeds from the sale of my books currently goes to The British Legion, Byng House which provides respite for ex-servicemen.

My books are available as ebooks or paperbacks from Amazon or my own website where you can get signed copies - army novels.com

Thanks again for all your support and do take a look at the Pilgrim Bandit website which is really inspiring.

The Royal British Legions, Byng House played host to a fantastic setting for the launch of Surrogate Fathers. With the VE Day celebrations taking place on the same day, the scene was set for a memorable occasion. It didn't disappoint.

At 1pm Saturday 9th May, the doors opened to the first guests who just so happened to be my close friends who I worked with in Ascension Islands so many years ago. They had made the journey from Shrewsbury to be part of the special day without my prior knowledge. A great surprise for me. It was only some minutes after that a lovely lady and her son joined us. They had driven up from Nottingham this particular morning, I felt very privileged and honoured.

Most of the guests had arrived within an hour and shortly afterwards the Royal Corps of Transport (R.C.T) arrived with the most important delivery of the day. It was the most fantastic chocolate sponge cake which looked amazing. It was decorated and hand painted as the front cover of the book. Not only did it look fantastic but according to my four year old son, Daniel, it tasted, in his words, awesome....

During the afternoon, I signed a huge number of books and met up with some old friends and new ones for that matter. The afternoon was a success although the setting didn’t permit me the opportunity to grace the audience with my speech and small reading from the book. Just as well I hear you say s he rambled on during the last book launch!

My final, well nearly final message is one of thanks to not only all who attended my special day, but to the staff at Byng House who outdid themselves yet again. Without your assistance the event would not be possible. To everyone who has helped me along the way with this book. Its been an emotional trip for which would have been impossible to finish had it not been for your help throughout. Thank you all so much.

Friday 19th June is the annual 38 Seringapatam Battery Reunion. As usual the get-together but not in sunny Nottingham, but Wakefield this time. Many copies of Surrogate Fathers will be taken with me and I will be selling signed copies during the event on Saturday. Royal; British Legion poppy badges will also be on sale.

So until the next blog it only remains for me to say a big thank you to all who continue to support me by purchasing my books.

There is something really scary about seeing a book printed for the first time - did the cover work? Did I dedicate it to the right person? Did they spell my name right? But all was brilliant - the publisher & printers have done a great job. They sent me a few to sell - 50 boxes worth - delivered to the front door and then the delivery guys ran away. The front door of a very large house where my appartment is two flights up... that's 25 journeys carrying fifty books a time - literature is not just good for the soul but for exercise too it would seem!

So now the books are here come to the launch party this coming Saturday 9th May - V.E. Day to be precise! See previous post for full details - It would be great to see you plus you get a signed copy of the book at a discounted rate as well as meeting many old friends... maybe even a few Germans. ALL WELCOME and many many thanks for your continued support.

OK then - Pay attention. 1300 hrs (1pm) 9th May 2015 - Southport - Royal British Legion, Byng House, 30 Preomenade PR81QU - PARTY - Celebrating the book launch of my new Paperback - 'Surrogate Fathers' - Come along, get a signed copy, mingle with comrades in arms, have cake and coffee (and alcoholic beverages after if desired at a nearby establishment) Party and Book-signing from 1pm. You are invited - BE THERE (pretty please)!

If I tell you
that my heart and soul went into the writing of ‘Not My Father’s Apprentice’,
the general response (I can almost hear it in Timbuctoo) would be: “But he is
Heartless and Soul’s a kinda music innit?!" But heart and soul did go into it -
it is simply the tale of my younger years and the problems I faced - something
many ‘squaddies’ can identify with - and if the subject is serious there are
quite a few laughs along the way - bit like being a Soldier really…

So find out more and get the E-books which continue
to sell well. Click HERE. Although its early days, the feedback is great. With that said, I
want to persuade, no beg readers to leave a review on Amazon. A task which is
proving harder than something that’s really hard - if you see what I mean! But
good reviews help push the books up the charts and that’s what we want because…

(DRUM ROLL…)
The paperback is being published and is due for release in May. A
fantastic launch is planned in Southport and all shall be welcome (especially those who have written good reviews - jus' sayin'). Details to
follow…!

The website is
looking good and appears to be attracting some unusual viewer stats. At last
count, the U.S.A made up 60% of the visitors to the site. Australia, China, Egypt
and United Arab Emirates all appearing on the score sheet - didn’t know
Australians could read mind! Anyway you’ll all be able to buy the paperback
from the website at a special discount though I’m not sure I can be bothered to
translate it into Chinese - on the other hand there are a lot of them - ok I’ll
think about it!

And finally, I
would like to say ‘thank you’ to everyone who has purchased any and all my
books. I hope you will all be purchasing the new paperback… I’ll have the names
of those who don’t!!!